[B-Greek] Revelation 14:4--PARQENOI GAR EISIN
Leonard Jayawardena
leonardj at live.com
Sun Sep 7 07:56:07 EDT 2008
In my post of this morning, I wrote the following: "So is it possible that the use of PARQENOS in Greek literature AFTER the GNT is a later development in the language, influenced at least partly by a literal interpretation of Rev. 14:4?" I have inadvertently omitted some words and the above sentence should correctly read as follows: "So is it possible that the use of PARQENOS in the sense of "unmarried man" in Greek literature AFTER the GNT is a later development in the language, influenced at least partly by a literal interpretation of Rev. 14:4?" At the time of writing GFS has already replied to my post. My thanks to him for that. I think there is a further point supporting my position that PARQENOS in Rev. 14:4 is used (of the NT church, represented by the 144,000) in its usual sense of "a woman who has had no sexual intercourse" albeit in a metaphorical cryptic manner. The hEKATON TESSERAKONTA TESSARES CILIADES in 14:1 is followed by the feminine participle ECOUSAI, denoting that the 144,000 are women. But at the end of v. 3 the identical phrase is preceded by the nominative feminine plural article (hAI) BUT followed by a masculine participle!: hAI hEKATON TESSERAKONTA TESSARES CILIADES, hOI HGORASMENOI APO THS GHS. This is followed by hOUTOI EISIN hOI META GUNAIKWN OUK EMOLUNQHSAN, PARQENOI GAR EISIN, hOUTOI hOI AKOULOUQOUNTES TWi ARNIWi. Unless John was drunk at the time of writing, he must have meant something by these "solecisms." Since masculine forms would suffice for a mixed group of males and females, the shift from feminine to masculine articles and participles must be significant-- a point that is lost in English translations. If we understand hOUTOI EISIN hOI META GUNAIKWN OUK EMOLUNQHSAN in a metaphorical sense to mean that the 144,000 are spiritually undefiled (cf. Exodus 19:15: "... do not go near a woman"; Lev. 15:18; 1 Sam. 21:4-5) and PARQENOI GAR EISIN in a metaphorical sense to mean "spiritually chaste" (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2: GAR hUMAS QEOU ZHLW hHRMOSUNHN GAR hUMAS hENI ANDRI PARQENON hAGNHN PARASTHSAI TWi CRISTWi), then this would provide an explanation for the apparently weird grammar in the verses in question: The use of both the masculine and the feminine is intended to indicate that the 144,000 are both all men and all women. This is a paradox that can only be resolved by a figurative interpretation and material for just such an interpretation is given close at hand in the same chaper in v. 4. Bear in mind that the figure of 144,000 is itself symbolical. I would repeat a point made in an earlier post. If PARQENOS also bore the sense of "unmarried man" in the Greek of John's day, then the use of the word immediately after hOUTOI EISIN hOI META GUNAIKWN OUK EMOLUNQHSAN would require us to take those referred to by these words as "unmarried men" with the implication that sexual relations with a woman per se defiles a man--a notion utterly foreign to the Bible. I don't see how a metaphorical interpretation would be possible. That is why BDAG and Liddell and Scott's cite Rev. 14:4 for the meaning "unmarried man" for PARQENOS. I think John used this word in v. 4 PRECISELY BECAUSE IT COULD NOT MEAN an "unmarried man" in his day to indicate that the preceding words were not to be taken literally. Add also to this the fact that there are no known instances of the use of PARQENOS in the sense of "unmarried man" in Greek literature predating the GNT. Leonard JayawardenaSri Lanka George F. Somsel wrote: Correctly stated that is "none that we have found to date" though there are more texts in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri than have been listed in M-M. It is entirely possible that such a usage may be found in secular Greek which up till now have been unknown due to the chance of preservation. It was the work of Deissmann which brought this to the attention of the scholarly biblical world. I would suspect that the language of the Apocalypse here is a fairly common non-literary usage.
georgegfsomsel
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----- Original Message ----From: Leonard Jayawardena <leonardj at live.com>To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.orgCc: gfsomsel at yahoo.comSent: Saturday, September 6, 2008 11:15:13 PMSubject: Revelation 14:4--PARQENOI GAR EISIN
George F. Somsel: "As you can see from the usage in Joseph and Asenath, it was a practice in Christian literature to use PARQENOS to reference men."
LJ: But that is precisely my point. There are NO instances of the use of PARQENOS in reference to adult males in Greek literature predating the GNT. So is it possible that the use of PARQENOS in Greek literature AFTER the GNT is a later development in the language, influenced at least partly by a literal interpretation of Rev. 14:4? Leonard JayawardenaSri Lanka
George. F. Somsel wrote:
There is more involved than simply allowing Re 14.4 to determine the sense of the word. Moulton & Milligan have an entry on this.
παρθένος [PARQENOS]
“maiden,” “virgin”: cf. P Ryl II. 12528 (a.d. 28–9) διὰ τῆς ἑατοῦ θυγατρὸς παρθένου [DIA THS hATOU QUGATROS PARQENOU], and P Lond 9834 (iv/a.d.) (= III. p. 229), where a man complains of abusive language addressed τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ συμβίῳ καὶ τῇ παρθένῳ μου θυγατρί [THi hMETERAi SUMBIWi KAI THi PARQENWi MOU QUGATRI'. In Kaibel 5653 (not later than ii/a.d.) παρθένος [PARQENOS] is a child of five years of age. For the rare fem, form ἡ παρθένη [hH PARQENH] (cf. MGr παρθένα), Hatzidakis (Einl. p. 24) cites a papyrus published in the Journal des Savants, 1873, p. 100. In farm accounts, P Fay 10230 (c. a.d. 105), payments are made for παρθέ(νων) λικνιζουσῶ(ν) [PARQE(NWN] LIKNIZOUSW(N)], “girls winnowing.” For αἱ παρθένοι αἱ ἱεραί [hAI PARQENOI hAI hIERAI], see the citation from Michel 694 s.v. εἶτεν [EITEN], and cf. W. M. Ramsay Ann. of Brit. School at Athens xviii. p. 58.
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The masc. used of men who have not known women in Rev 14:4 may be paralleled from CIG IV. 8784b—
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Σκεῦος θεουργὸν (cf. Ac 9:15) συλλαλείτω παρθένῳ
βλάβης σκέπεσθαι δεσπότην Κωνσταντῖνον:
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SKEUOS QEOURGON (cf Ac 9:15) SULLALEITW PARQENWi
BLABHS SKEPESQAI DESPOTHN KWNSTANTINON:
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cf. also Joseph and Asenath 3 ἐστὶν δὲ οὗος ὁ Ἰωσὴφ ἀνὴρ θεοσεβὴς καὶ σώφρων καὶ παρθένος [ESTEIN DE hOUOS hO IWSHF ANHR QEOSEBHS KAI SWFRWN KAI PARQENOS], ib. 6 ἄσπασον τὸν ἀδελφόν ου, διότι καὶ αὐτὸς παρθένος [ASPASON TON ADELFON OU, DIOTI KAI AUTOS PARQENOS].
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The adj. παρθεν(ε)ίος [PARQEN(E)IOS] is found in the illiterate P Ryl II. 4352 (ii/a.d.) παρήγκελκά συ [PARHGKELKA SU(l. παρήγγελκά σοι [PARHGGELKA SOI]) ἄλλα [ALLA] (for accentuation, Archiv vi. p. 379) ἅπαξ ὅτι ἆρε̣ν [hAPAC hOTI AREN] (l. ἆρον [ARON]) τὰ παρθένειά σου τέκνα [TA PARQENIA SOU TEKNA], “I have charged you more than once ‘Take away your children born of a maiden’”: cf. παρθενικός [PARQENIKOS] in P Lond 4741 (ii/a.d.) (= I. p. 82) δάφνη παρθε[νι]κή [DAFNH PARQE[[NI]]KH]. See also P Par 57ii. 21 (b.c. 156) where for παρθένην [PARQENHN] Wilcken (UPZ i. p. 445) suggests παρθενικήν [PARQENIKHN] or παρθ̣ένειον [PARQENEION] with ζώνην [ZWNHN] understood. For different forms of the word used as proper names see Preisigke Namenbuch.
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Moulton, J. H., & Milligan, G. (1930). The vocabulary of the Greek Testament. Issued also in eight parts, 1914-1929. (494). London: Hodder and Stoughton..As you can see from the usage in Joseph and Asenath, it was a practice in Christian literature to use PARQENOS to reference men.
georgegfsomsel
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